


Outer Beauty

by wynnebat



Category: Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Bisexual Character, F/F, Internalized Homophobia, Terrible People Being Terribly Hot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 22:51:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8819245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wynnebat/pseuds/wynnebat
Summary: Delia inspires a feeling other than hatred. Alanna is horrified.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Femslash Ficlets](http://femslashficlets.dreamwidth.org/) Shakespeare prompt table prompt #20 - _She's beautiful and therefore to be wooed_ \- Henry VI.
> 
> Delia's terrible, I love her.

"Dance with me," Delia says, imperiously, and Alanna has attended too many parties to do anything other than take her hand. If she doesn't, Delia will pout, and Delia will pout to Jonathan, and Jonathan will order her to do it anyway, with a bit of added jealousy.

"Of course, my lady," Alanna replies. She doesn't even try to force sugar into her voice. "You look as lovely as always."

"My, if you practice that a couple hundred more times, you may even sound convincing." It's a tease, but Delia's voice is just a little too sharp. "It's almost as though you don't enjoy the female form, Squire Alan."

Alanna very nearly misses a step. Oh, that won't do at all! She already has a reputation for being unwilling to flirt with the palace ladies. If Delia starts telling people that Alanna prefers the sword to the shield, so to speak, it would make things so uncomfortable. So she looks at Delia and tries to cleanse the sight from her first impressions of Delia, of the lady's personality, and every thought she's ever had about her. It's not easy.

"You have beautiful eyes," Alanna finally manages to say. "They're not like emeralds; I've never seen the use of comparing eyes to stones, when stones are lovely but lifeless, and have nothing on the personality that shines through a person's eyes. Yours are like a river—" or river rapids, trying their hardest to drown anyone who has the bad luck of falling in "--full of life and strength like in nature, surrounded by the greenest of plants. I don't like you personally, my lady, as you may have noticed, but I have admired your beauty since our first meeting."

Alanna speaks with so much sincerity that she almost scares herself. _I'm only faking,_ she tells herself as she begins to speak of Delia's cheekbones. Thinking like a boy has just had some kind of strange side effect. She isn't crooked, that much she knows for sure. After all, she notices almost daily what a terribly attractive man Jon is becoming. And Delia is a horrible person. There aren't many people Alanna hates more than her. Roger, of course, but she doesn't have to deal with Roger at every corner, unlike Delia, who seems to be flirting with each and every one of Alanna's friends.

Alanna must only be jealous of her looks and pretty dresses. That's all. It has nothing to do with the fact when she manages to forget Delia's personality, her heart flutters just a little bit. By the end of her speech, Alanna's voice is quiet, and her cheeks feel warm. Oh, _no_.

"Well. I don't even know what to say." Delia's blushing, too, Alanna realizes with horror. "I think you've missed your calling. As talented as you are as a knight, I believe poetry would suit you even better."

"I prefer my weapons," Alanna quickly says, before Delia gets even more ideas. "In fact, I should go practice. Right now."

"Oh, alright, I shall release you. But on our next dance, you may tell me what you think of my lips."

Alanna vanishes from the party so quickly, it feels like magic. She's never going to a party again, she decides.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Complete; no sequel planned.


End file.
